We always plant our garden North to South--why I don't know. Maybe it is the way our lot is or maybe because the flower heads always turn towards the south and the sun.

If you are planting corn and sunflowers there will be shade no matter where or which way you plant. You won't be planting just one plant like you would a tree. If I was doing it, I would plant the corn along the back fence where your compost is now. It would get enough sun and not shade anything else in the garden.

As for sunflowers With the regular ones they take up room and cast shadows too. In the past few years there has been an explosion of sunflower varieties. Some are relatively shorter than their 6 foot cousins.

Whatever you do don't plant them together. Sunflowers are greedy feeders and will sap the good from the corn.

Thank you for the feedback!! I'll probably have the neighbour trim back the cherry tree a little as well. I would like to replace the compost with new compost bins, but it shouldn't take up as much room. So, it shouldn't be a problem to extend the garden back close to the fence. I guess experimenting is the only way to find out!!

FYI - The tall shrubs are to the south, side of the shed is north. Thanks again =)

It seems to be a good spot for sun loving plants. Is it receiving 6 hours of sun daily. My front yard bed is South East facing but it doesn't get shadows from nearby structures. I plant mostly sunloving perennials. I'm curious to know how much light that area receives.

I would suggest moving the herb garden to front of the order. Tallest plants are always to the back & shortest to the front. As there are sunflowers of all sizes from the diminutive to the giants. So it's something you can set in the middle or the back of the bed. In this case perhaps it's nicer to group them in squares. BTW sunflowers will always move it's flowerhead in the direction of the sun. isn't that a neat thing.

Hi Ianna,

Yes, where the herb garden is now receives the most sun in that area. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but the shrubs are quite tall - thinking about trimming them down a little. It gets a lot of sun in the afternoon as well.

I would say the total other side of the yard probably gets the most sun, but it is somewhat of a back path to the shop.

That is super neat about the sunflowers - is it true that they attract aphids?? I was kinda hoping to use them as a trellis. :-p

So odd, I thought I had responded to this earlier.

I do wonder whether the corn and sunflowers will start casting shadows on teh herb bed. If you poke a stick in that area - you will probably see where teh shadows are strongest throughout the day and that will offer you a clue.

The backpart out to have your taller plants.

I haven't seen sunflowers attract aphids. I can't imagine how aphids can attack sunflowers which have fine fur on its leaves and stems. But that's not me saying that it's never happened before.

I like the idea of using sunflowers to form a trellis. Earlier this season I had suggested to a friend to create a teepee out of them which would be fun for kids. Are you trying to grow beans on them?

Ianna,

Thanks for your response. And the tips for casting shadows =)

I have started laying down the cinder blocks. First bed is vertical (approx 2.5 x 18 I was planning on experimenting the sunflower as a cucumber trellis, but it might not be strong enough?? (beds are raised approx 2 feet) Wanted to use the corn for a pea and bean trellis as they are better companions. Corn in the last bed by the fence.

Whatcha think?

Sounds like a great plan. A kind of take on the three sisters. Squash, corn and beans.

I would suggest to you to visit the website of Mother Earth news. I occasionally buy their magazines as it's packed with ideas for growing vegetables. One of those suggestions was to create a trellis out of bamboo but it was leaning outwards of the garden plot. This trellis allowed such things as squash to grow up and out of the vegetable bed and capturing sunlight at the same time. The fruit being suspended by the trellis. This allowed for more vegetables to grow beneath the squash. I rather thought that was very clever. It might be useful when you start growing your vines - just in case you need more space.

Yeh north south is best with tallest at the back...north or in your case accordingly.

Hi all,

Just wanted to give an update. My sister moved just down the street from me and has a huge area to grow corn, so that's where my corn will be planted this year!

As you can see, I did 3 raised beds out of cinder blocks. The far one against the fence is strawberries and I put the blueberry bush in there for the time being. Does anyone know how big they get? Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of this one in particular. I'm going to be using the square foot gardening method this year.

See updated picture attached. Taken at approx 8:30 AM.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:542063}}